Because today is Erev Tisha B’Av, we will share a bitachon thought related to Tisha B’Av.
Tisha B’Av is when we work on Sinat Hinam, baseless hatred, one of the many sins that caused the Churban Bet HaMikdash.
But what is the cause of Sinat Hinam? The Gaon of Vilna says that it’s rooted in a lack of bitachon, because if we really relied on Hashem, there would be no hate. Most hate is rooted in jealousy, and jealousy is rooted in a lack of bitachon. It spirals downward- no Bitachon, no reliance on G-d, no faith in G-d, therefore jealousy, therefore hate. So, we have to get to the root, which is Bitachon.
There’s a beautiful thought about this from Pirkei Avot, (from a class I recently gave). Ben Azai says, ( in the 4th perek)
אַל תְּהִי בָז לְכָל אָדָם,
Do not be disgraceful to any person
(or, as some interpret it, of the whole person- i.e. if you looked at the whole picture, you wouldn’t disgrace him)
How is that connected to the previous statement, of Ben Azai, in which he says to run away from sins because עבירה גוררת עבירה a little sin causes a big sin.
(He also says מצוה גרררת מצוה- one mitzva will causes another)
Rav Shemuel D’Uzeda, a student of Rav Chaim Vital says the following fascinating thought based on this: We must stay away from sins, even light averot/ sins, because the light sins bring the big sins. What small averah brings everything? Looking down on people. When we look down on people, we end up disgracing them. This may seem like it’s small, but this sin drags, along with it, all the other averot in the Torah.
Just like the whole Torah is dependent upon אהבת לרעך כמך/love your friend like you love yourself, So too
המבזה הוא מבטל כל התורה כלה
someone who disgraces his friends is annulling the entire Torah.
That’s a very powerful statement!
What’s source of all sin? It’s looking down at your fellow.
Why is this the source of all sin? The Hasid Yavetz says the following, and from here we see that Emunah and Bitachon are the foundation of אהבת לרעך כמך/love your friend like you love yourself and not to disgrace them.
He says,
“There is nothing in this world that is null and void. Everything is G-d’s handiwork.”
Just like there is plan and purpose in creation, there is plan and purpose in every individual.
As we have previously mentioned, man is called an Olam Kattan- a miniature world. The amount of wisdom that goes into the giant world goes into the miniature world of man as well. Asher Yatzar Et HaAdam B’Chochmah- man was made with a lot of wisdom, therefore, we are G-d’s handiwork. He says that when you respect a person, it’s like you’re respecting a prince as the king looks on from the window. Conversely, the pasuk in Mishleh says that one who taunts the poor (like saying that guy can’t rub two nickels together) is blaspheming the one who made him- which is G-d. Everyone in this word has a purpose. A man might look small in this world, but we don’t know how great he is in the next world.
There is nothing unworthy of creation, otherwise G-d wouldn’t have created it. That’s an Emunah and bitachon outlook on people. And if you have the proper Emunah and Bitachon outlook on people, you won’t come to look down on anyone, or come to all the other averot that go along with it.
Rabbenu Yonah, in Shaare Teshuva
( שער שלישי ,letter 175) has a similar explanation on the same pasuk.
He says that a person who taunts the poor shows that he thinks that success is in the hands of man. He thinks that the man who made a lot of money did it with his own wisdom. He’s from the believers of the statement “My strength and my force made me this money,” and that’s why he looks down at the poor; because he thinks they have no brains, or business sense. He thinks he did it on his own, but he’s denying that everything comes from Hashem.
Therefore, the outlook of disgrace is sourced in a lack of bitachon.
So, in order to fix our sins between man and man, we have to get to the root: Do we look down on people, and if so, why do we look down on them? We do it because we think we have accomplished so much. But our accomplishments have nothing to do with us, and everyone has a purpose- even a seemingly simple person.
A child with special needs was once brought, by his father, to the Chazon Ish for a beracha. The Chazon Ish stood up when they walked in. When asked why he stood up, the Chazon Ish explained that that child had a special soul, one which came to this world with less intellect because he had less to fix, so he stood up for his holy neshama.
That what it means not to בָז לְכָל אָדָם, to disgrace any person
Additionally, the Pele Yoetz says on the topic of Kavod HaBeriot that he saw a Midrash that says a person should respect a poor man, out of respect for G-d, because it says in a pasuk in tehilim that G-d stands on the right side of a poor person. So therefore, when people give respect to wealthy people, but don’t respect the poor, it’s improper. In the end, the poor will become embarrassed and complain to Hashem that they aren’t treated properly. The Pele Yoetz then says that when a person makes a Seudah (festive meal ), he should invite the wealthy and poor equally, and put them together. Respect them equally. A person who’s wealthy, a man of stature in the community, should go out of his way to speak with, and recognize people of a lower stature, socially, financially or the like.
If he has relatives that aren’t the most prestigious, he should show that he’s related to them, attend their parties, and visit them on the holidays.
These are the respect factors that we need to work on. They’re small things: Going to people’s affairs and events, this is showing people respect, even if they don’t have the highest of social statuses.
That’s what it means, אַל תְּהִי בָז לְכָל אָדָם,
Don’t disgrace any person.
That is the source of the whole Torah. If we work on this Bitachon-rooted approach to respecting people, we will bring the building the Bet HaMikdash ever closer.
Have a wonderful day.
For those that need a reminder: We had a drive yesterday for our Yad Yosef Kollel.
If you are able, and haven’t yet responded, please do so. We got a good response yesterday, but we haven’t yet reached our goal. Help if you can. We appreciate anything you can do. We are not
בָז לְכָל אָדָם,disgraceful to any person
$36 is nice, $100 is nice, $1,000 is nice. Whatever you can do is appreciated and respected, and we respect you!
Click below,
https://secure.cardknox.com/yadyosefkollel
or send a check to
Yad Yosef Kollel
1036 Ocean Parkway
Brooklyn NY 11230
Or send me an email at
Rabbisutton @gmail.com, and I will bill you if you like.
Have a wonderful day and a meaningful fast.